April 28
2006

How I Met Your Buffy.
Craig Thomas, co-creator of Alyson Hannigan's new sitcom, demonstrates why he's just as big a Buffyverse fan as the rest of us.

So the finale’s kind of a feast for ‘Buffy’ fans.

"Yeah, we’re really excited about that. It’s a mini-Buffy Angel reunion. We cast Alyson because we’re such enormous fans of ‘Buffy.’ And we’re also huge fans of ‘Angel,’ I’ve seen every episode of both shows two or three times. So when I showed up to the table read of the finale, with Alexis and Alyson and Amy, the ‘Buffy’/‘Angel’ nerd in me just freaked out. I had to try to contain it so I didn’t seem to dorky in front of the entire room.

Did you go into a closet and just go ‘Yes!!’

[laughs] "I had to excuse myself and do a little dance. We’re the biggest dorks of all time."

So you have to get Anthony Stewart Head on your show.

"We’re slowly working our way through the cast of ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel.’ If we get six or seven years of the show, we’ll be down to background extras."

That was so beautiful. I clicked the link, read the whole thing, and my first thought after he said "background extras" was Asian Dan. Then i look at the one comment and of course it is Asian Dan. It would be so awesome if he had some kind of part in the Spike tv movie (that may happen, or whatever Buffyverse continuation). It doesn't even have to be a part, he could just walk by in the background as he's great at that.

Nick Brendon was apparently on set the day Alexis, Amy and Ally were there, I seem to recall. They should totally cast him. I also remember Joss saying he tends to hang out, and I've seen a photo of Barney and Captain Malcolm Reynolds together which totally blew my mind ("OMG!BARNEY!MAL!").

If they bring Nick in he should be Lilly's best friend from high school, just to keep it similar. I like sly little things like that. I was slightly dissapointed that when they showed Kendall's year book photo in Veronica Mars it wasn't the one of Cordelia from Buffy (but obviously then they'd need to get the rights).

Personally, I've already cast Summer as Ted's heretofore unknown sister, and Nathan would make a perfect relative of Marshal's. Okay, so that's Firefly--but hey! They were both in the Buffyverse, too. :-)

I admit I started to watch HIMYM simply because Alyson Hannigan was in it. But now I just can't get enough. I love it. When they showed the first episode with Alexis he was only in it for maybe 2 minutes and I was sooo disapointed. But then to see him return in the episode on Monday totally redeemed it for me. It was so great! I can't wait to see the season finale.

Asian Dan was the Asian kid you always saw in the background of scenes where Buffy or the Scoobies were walking around Sunnydale High or U Sunnydale- he's a great character actor who blends in so well even though he is in more scenes that you can believe.

He was also at the Bronze--a lot. If you pay close attention, he's always in the crowd or dancing. He's even been front and center of the screen as the camera pans around the sets. He's awesome. He's Asian Dan.

When I read, "I’ve seen every episode of both shows two or three times" I smiled and wondered if this is the reason I have enjoyed the show so much (at least one reason)....the creators are one of "us."

Yep, that was a great interview. Mr. Thomas totally gets what makes a sitcom great: attention to characters and a little heart and emotion to balance out the pure funny.

I mean, it's like he's describing my perfect sitcom when he says:

Our goal was to make a sitcom, at least in the first season, that showed the audience that this wasn’t just a collection of insult-comeback jokes, and that we were exploring who these characters are as people and the changes they go through, in the tumultuous age of the late 20s.

And, well, HIMYM is getting closer to my perfect sitcom every week. And, obviously, I simply love the fact that the creator of this great sitcom is a big old Buffy/Angel fan like the rest of us.

Nick Brendon as: 1) Lily's high school boyfriend; 2) "gay now" fellow teacher from Lily's school who hits on Barney, or 3) Lily's f-ed up brother, who breaks her heart every time he comes to visit. If 3), pencil in an "Aly cries" scene, because I'm amazed the Buffy fans in charge of this show haven't done one yet.

Hm... Asian Dan.. I tried Googling him, has he ever had a speaking role? How in the foreground would he be? What episodes has he appeared in? Why was he not a hat trick?

Sorry, this is new to me and I keep whinging about the lack of Azn representazn (...sorry, even I hate myself for that), since Chao-Ahn and Gavin both got gypped and were the closest things to big supporting roles for Asian actors so far.

And I hate to disagree with you, Telltale, but I'd cast Adam Baldwin as the relative of Marshall. (He's from a family of giants, you know!) I'd cast Nathan as a colleague of Barney's -- can't you see him "suiting up" as an "international businessman"? ;-)

But, this is all OT, since we should be talking Buffy/Angel crossovers. Well, to take another headline from the front page, how about adding a karaoke night at the bar the HIMYM folks go to, hosted by -- yes, you guessed it -- Andy Hallett? Or Charisma as a newscaster on a rival station that Robin gets an audition to work with? Too much fun! ;-)

Hey orangewaxlion: Asian Dan is one of the extras. He never had a speaking role, he was just always there. In New Moon Rising there's a scene where Buffy gets her paper from Prof. Walsh. As Willow joins Buffy, you can see Asian Dan and some other guy walking behind the girls.

"Craig Thomas has now become one of my favorite people."--nna_funk. Ditto! And what a great idea, Telltale, to campaign to make Alexis a regular in season two! AD in my living room on a regular basis! *Does own little happy dance. In response to overwhelming number of requests, stops said dance. But keeps grinning.*

Anyway, let's hear it for the man who had to excuse himself and do a little dance during the table read of the finale of HIMYM!

I seem to recall a fair number of people being not-so-happy with HIMYM early on. Was it Craig Thomas coming out of the closet as a BtVS/AtS fan that changed so many minds? Whatever! I kinda loved it from the beginning, and I am not generally a sit-com fan. The cast as a whole has great chemistry. Alyson alone is funny and (as ever) adorable--though I've been worried about the amount of physical trauma her character has been dealt. Bringing in Alexis and Amy only adds to the fun.